Liverpool’s Klopp wins month’s best coach award, Van Dijk named best player

London, Jan 12: Liverpool has dominated the Premier League awards for December as its German coach Jurgen Klopp earned the Manager of the Month award while the English side's Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk claimed the Player of the Month trophy.

After winning all seven matches Liverpool played in December, Klopp won the prize for the second time in his tenure at Anfield on Friday night, having initially been recognized as Manager of the Month in September 2016, reports Efe news.

"It's nice, the icing on the cake. It was a very successful but difficult month," the Premier League website cited Klopp as saying. 

"It was a very successful but difficult month," it added.

Klopp prevailed over Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo, West Ham United's Manuel Pellegrini, Tottenham Hotspur's Mauricio Pochettino and Chelsea's Maurizio Sarri.

Van Dijk, meanwhile, became the first defender to win the player of the month award since Tottenham Hotspur's Belgium's Jan Vertonghen achieved that feat in Mar. 2013.